Very happy to note that “Cooperative Federalism” is the goal of Mr. Modi’s Government. It is natural for Mr. Modi to appreciate and understand the power of a Cooperative System as he hails from the land of Amul.
Man does not want to learn certain things in the life because of his own vested interest. PM is very right in asking his Cabinet Colleagues not to indulge in any business activity on their own. This indulgence makes the things worse when it comes to governing the activities linked to that personal business. Here is a classic case from Andhra Pradesh whose author is none other than Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
The case:
Andhra Pradesh is one of the most conducive and historically most famous for dairy industry. Unfortunately it was not able to learn any lesson from the success of Amul. Many congress governments that ruled the state of Andhra Pradesh did not pay any attention to support the process of replicating Anand Pattern in the states that they govern. It was natural for Gujarati people to appreciate the value of Cooperative System and in the same natural way created a model worth emulating in the world in the name of Amul.
The vested interest in the Congress is another reason for not encouraging the creation of more Amuls in the country and unfortunately it was the same beaurocracy that served the Congress Govt also served the NTR Government in Andhra Pradesh. It did not provide insight into the success of Amul to NTR and he too did not pay much attention to it. Later when NTR’s son-in-law took over the reins of the State from him, his vested interest did not allow Amul pattern to flourish in Andhra Pradesh. The reason is Heritage Food Industries’ Dairy wing.
Today Heritage is one of the significant dairy units in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Heritage got into the business of Fruit and Vegetable. Another food chain is from the Ramoji Group, Priya Foods. These two units in the food industry of Andhra Pradesh have been existing since two decades with sustainable systems of procurement.
14 years ago Chandra Babu Naidu started Rythu Bazars with a model that gives ample scope for corruption. These Rythu Bazars are not farmer owned and farmer managed. In the name of the farmer, private business men rule the roost. Again Mr. Chandra Babu naidu wishes to strengthen the Rythu Bazars.
Here are the moot questions:
Can Chandra Babu Naidu design Rythu Bazars in such a way that they become a real competition for Heritage Fresh business? He had ensure that the cooperative dairies are just functional and could not become formidable force in the dairy sector of Andhra Pradesh because he has his Heritage Dairy. Similarly can anyone believe that he is going to make Rythu Bazars as great competitors to the business of Heritage Fresh outlets?
Today tender coconut is sold at Rs.25/- per unit whereas the same is procured form a farmer in Konaseema @Rs.6/- The middle men loot both the farmer and the consumer. The Govt is a mute spectator because it gets the party fund from the big dealers of this business. The nexus between the politicians who rule the govt and the middle men is the basic reason for not encouraging the cooperative movement in this country. Why not Mr. Naidu is talking about bringing in a farmer owned and professionally managed Agri Cooperative System that can provide sustainable model of development in Andhra Pradesh?
Every year tomatoes and vegetables that register a bumper yield and ensured no market are dumped on the roads. In the same year their prices go up just within 2 months of their hitting the rock bottom. The reason for this is the absence of cold chain in Andhra Pradesh that produces variety of fruits and vegetables. Why not Mr. Babu talk of creating a farmer owned and professionally managed cooperative cold chain in Andhra Pradesh?
These moot questions are not only for Mr Babu but also for all the CMs in the country and the PM too. No great talking can bring in change. A selfless endeavor to bring the real change through highly sustainable and highly collaborative system like a Cooperative System can only bring in changes in the country.
I demand the following actions from the Govt of India and the Govt of AP:
- Articulate your Governments policy on farmer owned and professionally managed Cooperative Systems and when are you going to do this?
- When can you share the plan of action for strengthening the existing cooperative systems?
- Inclusive development is only possible through a cooperative system and how are you going to make it possible?
- When can you share the plan of action to further expanding the scope and mandate of the National Dairy Development Board like organizations in the country so that they can provide professional support in managing the farmer owned cooperatives in the country – this shall be done by the Govt lead by Mr. Modi and his team. The National Fisheries Development Board operating from Hyderabad is yet another classic case of govt sponsored development scheme plaguing with problems and sustainable corrupt practices!
- Today due to waste of fruit and vegetables in every season, farmers lose crores of rupees and the Nation lose several market opportunities. What is the action plan of the Govt of India for creating farmer owned and professionally managed cold chain in the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari?
- There are several cooperative federations in the country. What is the action plan to provide a seamless integration of all these cooperatives by invoking the principle “cooperation among cooperatives” and create synergies?
- Today the migration of youth from villages to urban areas is due to paucity of employment of opportunities in rural areas. Mr. Babu is talking of creating solar electricity generation systems. Why not leverage the village population and village wealth in creating the solar electricity generation systems using the same cooperative system and thereby provide quality power and remunerative employment to the rural youth of India?
- What is the plan of action of Team Modi in bringing-in a new law of Cooperatives in the country by taking out cooperatives from the concurrent list and placing in the Union list? Cooperatives like the education system were ruined thoroughly by keeping it in the concurrent list.
- The National Tree Growers Cooperative based out of Anand needs to be strengthened further so that the vast stretch of waste lands can be converted into green patches. What is your action plan on this?
- Indian Railways own so much waste land on both the sides of its tracks that run from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. What is the action of plan of Govt. of India in leveraging this huge mass of land for productive and ecological purpose?
- Today we find many vacant plots in the residential zones of all the towns and cities. What is the policy to be adopted in ensuring that the owners of these lands use the land for nurturing plants that facilitate even the future construction and at the same time providing percolation pits for charging the ground water? Today percolation pits are included as one of the conditions to fulfill before starting the construction.
- Why not form a local cooperative for preserving the water bodies like ancient lakes, big wells and ponds and allow them to catch fish using traditional methods of fishing in the lakes? This would bring back the natural way of catching fish and eating healthy fish. I am sure that this would help in maintaining the bio-diversity which has become global hot topic.
By answering the above questions with actions Team Modi & Team CNB can confirm to the nation & to the state of AP, respectively, their seriousness for the “Cooperative Federalism”.